


Yo Who the F is This?

by incredibly_cold



Series: The Hamfam goes to college [2]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: College AU, Gen, Modern AU, college party, first meeting story, slight mention of injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-09
Updated: 2016-06-09
Packaged: 2018-07-14 02:45:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7149512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/incredibly_cold/pseuds/incredibly_cold
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hercules was expecting a normal college party, not to end up stuck with some freshman with no self control. Still, he figured this was probably more interesting anyway. It definitely required his attention more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Yo Who the F is This?

Hercules was a sophomore in college, and the best offensive lineman on the football team. People liked him, and he liked other people. He was also a rule follower, for the most part. Not for stupid rules, or ones that weren't fair to certain groups of people, but things like drinking age. He wasn't going to stop other people from drinking and breaking the law, but he was the responsible one whenever his friends went out who would stay sober and drive them home. It wasn't as much fun as getting smashed with the rest of them, but at least he made sure that everyone got home safe.

It was pretty early into the year, and he was at a party with a few guys from the team. They were drinking, of course, while he talked to people and had fun. It felt kind of like being a mom, because he was always half focused between who he was taking to and who he was supposed to be looking after. He didn't really mind, he'd been playing the part of the mom friend for as long as he could remember, it was just more obvious at parties. Tonight, things were going pretty well. He couldn't see all of his friends, but he also didn't hear any fighting or screaming to indicate that anything was wrong.

At some point, he felt someone slam into him from the side, and he reached out reflexively to steady them, only to feel their entire body go rigid under his hand. A quick glance over at the person surprised him a little, he'd kind of been expecting a girl who was scared of him. He didn't really appreciate it, but he did acknowledge the fact that a lot of girls were scared of him because he was a big black guy, and they thought he might hurt them. He was not expecting some shrimpy guy who looked equal parts horrified and embarrassed.

"You okay man?" He asked, tentatively. He wasn't upset that the guy had run into him, it was a party. There were people everywhere running into each other, and he'd probably been pushed in the first place. Besides, as a football player, he was used to being run into with a lot more force.

He finally moved, shrugging the hand off of his shoulder. "Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry, someone kind of pushed me."

"No worries, I've been run into at least ten times tonight, and you didn't even spill anything on me. You seem kind of nervous though, is this your first party?" Hercules already knew the answer, he could tell from a mile away. This kid had never been to a party of this scale.

The other guy shrugged, still looking very anxious. "Not exactly, but I'm kind of new here." Which translated to 'I'm a freshman, but I've been to parties back home.' Well, that was fair. New people, new environment, no wonder he looked out of place.

"Well my name is Hercules Mulligan, nice to meet you. If you want, I could tell you who a few people are. I know just about everyone. If you know the right people, you can have a good time," he winced, realizing that sounded kind of bad. "I mean that you'll want to stay away from some people. They tend to get in a lot of trouble, and if you're with them then you might too. And then some of them are just mean and nasty and you don't want anything to do with them."

The other guy nodded slowly. "I'm John Laurens. I don't really think I need any help though. I'd like to make my own friends and my own name without being associated with anyone else. Thanks for the offer." He was very curt about it, and Hercules couldn't help wondering if that was a personal jab. The guy, John, said that he didn't want to be associated with him. That was kind of insulting, right?

He didn't say anything about it though, being rude back wouldn't help anything. "That's cool too, I guess. So I take it you don't really know anyone here then?"

John squinted at him, as though he was confused. "No, I don't."

"Well if you change your mind, let me know. I don't have to introduce you if you prefer doing that on your own, but I could point people out from a distance. You might feel a little more relaxed it you know who some people are." He offered.

His reply didn't help anything, apparently. Hercules had thought that it was a perfectly polite offer without being too pushy, but now John was glaring at him. "So what, you think I can't handle it on my own?"

Clearly something else was going on here. This kid was acting weird. "Hey, are you sure you're okay? You're acting funny." A thought suddenly occurred to him: maybe John was diabetic. If he had low blood sugar and needed to eat something that could explain why his behavior seemed a little odd. "If you aren't feeling good I can get you some food and you can sit down for a while."

"Are you kidding me?!" John huffed. "Okay, I'd really appreciate if you could point out one of those mean and nasty guys you pointed out earlier, because this isn't working out at all." As he got more irritated, Hercules started to notice a little bit of a southern twang emerging in his voice.

They stood there, quiet in the roar of other students for a couple of seconds. Hercules was baffled. He'd thought he knew what was going on, but now he was stumped again. "What isn't working out?"

"This." John waved his hand between them. "You aren't drunk enough or angry enough to fight me, and now you're trying to take care of me." He laughed at the absurdity of it. "It isn't working out. You said you know people, point out someone who _will_ fight."

"So you're trying to make me mad so that I'll fight you?" Somehow being told exactly what was going on didn't help him understand what was going on at all. Why would John want to fight him? Not only did they not know each other, he would be at a huge disadvantage based on size. The kid looked strong and all, but unless he had some really great technique, he didn't stand a chance. Was he really so eager to prove that he was good at fighting? "Well I'm not drunk at all, and you're kind of tiny, so I wouldn't do that. You could get hurt."

"Which is why I gave up on you. So are you going to help me out here, or am I just going to have to keep trying until I find someone?"

Hercules sighed. "Kid, I'm not helping you get beaten to a pulp. What's the deal? Why do you want to fight someone?"

"Forget about it, I'll find someone on my own." John started to walk away, but Hercules stopped him again with a hand on his shoulder. "What?"

"I didn't say 'I'm helping you but you can go get hurt on your own.' Why would I let you go pick a fight? This is a perfectly peaceful party right now, and I don't really like fights. Especially ones that I can stop before they happen." John continued to stare at him, unaffected. "Look, I don't know what the deal is with you fighting, but I'm not letting you do it. So sit down and have a good time."

"How are you going to stop me without fighting me yourself? You can't control me, buddy. I'll fight if I want to fight."

He shook off the hand again, and Hercules did what he had to do. He grabbed him around the waist and carried him outside, ignoring the protests and struggles from the other man. Once they were in the backyard, he set him down. "John, you need to chill. Tell me what's going on, man."

"Why does something have to be going on?" He was clearly angry, but Hercules couldn't help noticing how he clutched at his right side and gritted his teeth, like he was in pain.

Suddenly he was very worried that he'd accidentally hurt the guy. "Something is always going on when a person goes up to someone they don't know looking for a fight. Trust me, I know. Did I hurt you?"

John gave a little snort. "No, you didn't hurt me. Why do you care if you did? And why do you care what's going on?"

"I don't like hurting people or seeing them get hurt. If there's something wrong and I can help, I'd like to do that, because frankly, I don't think you'd stand a chance against any of those guys in there." The way that John had allowed him to pick him up and carry him out like that had been confirmation enough that he wasn't super skilled at fighting. If he was, he could have gotten out of it.

"Rude."

"So what's up?"

"I don't actually know you, like at all, so I think I'll keep my life story to myself." He replied flatly. He was still looking into Herucles' eyes, as if he was still trying to egg him into fighting. Maybe he was.

The whole thing was getting very frustrating. Hercules wanted to help the guy out, since clearly he was having a hard time. If it was something about being in a new place or not having friends, he'd be very capable of helping. John seemed determined to stay angry though. And on top of that, he was still hunched to the right a little, and clearly in pain. "Fine, I won't pry. It's all good, man. I need you to tell me what's going on with your side though, because I definitely did hurt you."

John groaned. "Lord, you don't know when to quit, do you? I'm fine, you didn't hurt me. My side hurts a little, but that isn't from you, so just back off. Go inside, enjoy your party."

"So you're trying to start a fight when you're already injured? If picking you up was enough to make it hurt, punching it wouldn't be a good idea. So what is it, a bruise?" Hercules ignored what John was telling him to do. He'd decided officially that he was going to have to look out for this kid since clearly he wasn't looking out for himself. He was a mess.

John nodded, albeit somewhat grudgingly. "Yeah."

"From fighting someone?"

The other man was not impressed. He gave Hercules a withering look. "Wow, nice work detective. You're as smart as you are intrusive." As much as he was acting annoyed, he didn't make another attempt to leave.

"Well if you have bruised ribs, you should be careful with them. Not that you care, it's just a tip." He smiled. "Anyway, I'm not going back to the party. I don't want you to get yourself hurt, and I don't trust you not to. Besides, you're a little more fun to be around then a bunch of people drunk off their asses."

"'Fun,' right." John scoffed. "I'll just go home then, if you're going to be bothering me all night."

Hercules got up. "Do you live on campus? I'll walk with you. If you don't, then I'll drive you."

The other man stood too, glaring at him through narrowed eyes. "And I'm guessing there's no way I can stop you?" He wasn't stupid at all, just reckless. It was good to see that he was catching on though.

"Nope."

"Great." He said it in a tone of voice that clearly implied that he didn't find it great at all. "We're walking."

* * *

And that's how Hercules ended up walking across the campus in the middle of the night keeping up a mostly one-sided conversation with a complete stranger who did not seem to like him much at all. It wasn't exactly how he'd envisioned spending his Friday night, but he would take it. Knowing his friends, they weren't leaving for a while, so he had time before he had to drive anyone home.

He was going on about which teachers were good and which were bad, when John, who had been walking slightly ahead of him so he didn't have to talk or look at him, stopped and turned around. Hercules almost ran straight into him.

"Why are you being nice to me?" He sounded angry.

The question kind of caught him off guard. Hercules was nice to everyone whenever he could be. He didn't really think about why. "What?"

"Why are you being nice to me?" John repeated. "What do you want out of this? Is it money, or connections, or what? Because I can tell you right now that it isn't going to work."

What was even happening right now? It felt like he was missing something important here, because he was honestly clueless. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't act like you don't know, that's bullshit. People aren't nice for no reason, especially when it inconveniences them. You left a party to walk a stranger home. A stranger who is a guy who I'm assuming you're not trying to sleep with. Clearly you want something."

Hercules didn't know whether to be offended, or to feel bad for the kid because he actually thought that way. "I don't want anything, I just like being nice to people. Maybe you should try it sometime, it's more rewarding than picking fights."

"Yeah, I know it is. The rewards are kind of what I'm talking about when I bring up wanting something." He sighed, but kept walking. "You're going to have to excuse me, but I don't believe you. I'm kind of an expert on people wanting things from everyone all the time. You kind of pick it up when your dad works in the business that mine does. If you want to play nice though, we can play nice. Just don't expect me to give you anything later."

Hercules was wondering what exactly his dad did for a living, because it sounded suspiciously like he worked for the mob. If that was it, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to ask, so he didn't. "Okay, fine by me. Maybe all I want in return is feeling like a good person, have you considered that? Or even some kind of acquaintance-ship. Either way, it's not like I'm gonna go pulling favors, that isn't my style."

"So you have some kind of complex about people liking you then? If you do this to feel like a good person, then you must want other people to think you are too."

"I guess." He wouldn't have called it a complex, but whatever.

John looked back at him with a little smile. "See, that's what I like, being upfront about things. If all you want is to be liked, I think I can give you that." He stopped again. "This is my dorm building, so I guess I'll see you around."

Hercules hadn't even noticed they were near the dorm buildings really, so he was a little startled. Had they really been talking that long? "Yeah, probably. You will if you come to the football games."

"Yeah, I heard you were on the team." John suddenly seemed very awkward, like he didn't know how to interact now that he wasn't being hostile. "Anyway, sorry for being a dick. I'm kind of... Well, I am a dick, actually. Sorry you had to put up with it though."

It was weird to have the same kid who had only alternated between sullen and angry so far apologize to him. The change was so sudden and the whole thing was just such a weird experience that he couldn't help laughing. "Don't sweat it kid, I live in a frat house. I'm used to having a few guys being dicks all the time. Just saying though, if you were really a dick, you wouldn't have apologized for it. Dicks aren't sorry about giving other people a hard time," he pointed out. "Here, give me your phone, I'll put in my number. If you ever feel like hanging out with someone, or just talking, and not having to worry about the other person wanting something, you can text me."

John handed over the phone, looking completely bewildered. "So I try to start a fight with you, and then I'm mean to you all night, and you still want to hang out? Do you like suffering?"

"No, but I do like having friends and being liked, you got me there. Everyone needs to have at least one friend, so consider me a starter for you." He gave him back the phone and clapped him on the shoulder. "I'll see you around, John."

"Yeah, see you around."

Hercules walked back to the party feeling pretty good about himself. In his experience, some of the best friendships started out with hating each other. If that was the case, then one that began with trying to start a fistfight should be pretty great. Yeah, he and John were going to be good friends. He could feel it.

**Author's Note:**

> Something sweet and innocent and painless, look at that. Good stuff. Talk to me/send requests on tumblr at incredibly-cold.tumblr.com


End file.
